The Lost Kingdom
by Violet Soda
Summary: What if you could change destiny? Would you do it? What if someone else changed your destiny for you? After Nibelheim, I decided to go with my gut and across the mountains, carrying Cloud along for the ride, hoping that he would wake up soon. We were going to start a new life together, away from ShinRa and it's influence. I never thought the trip would take us so far.
1. Prologue

The beautiful young princess called Marina had been brought from the East by airship, to marry almost one year ago. She was treated with warmth and kindness by everyone in her new home, especially by her new husband whom she had loved since childhood, but she still felt pangs of homesickness now and again. She longed for the green spring, rushing creeks and flowering cherry blossoms of her native land.

Now, with her slender body growing large with her first child, and her cheeks carrying the radiance of a new mother, she often found it difficult to sleep at night. Her baby was restless inside of her, kicking and turning over and over, wanting to enter a strange new world where he or she would be the most loved and doted on child that had ever been born.

Tiptoeing down the darkened corridors of the beautiful old castle that sat on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the sea, she tried to move as silently as possible, so as not to awaken anyone. Her long dark hair unbound and flowing down her back trailed after gossamer robes as she stole through the night.

Reaching her destination, she gently pushed open a carved door which led to what would become the nursery for her new baby when it arrived.

Earlier in the day, Marina had been personally overseeing the renovations to turn an old and unused suite into something that a child might find pleasing. During the removal of the bed, one of the attendants had found an old book bound with dark blue leather and carefully tucked away underneath one of the feather mattresses.

"What is it?" Marina had asked, curiosity gleaming in her almond shaped eyes.

"Probably nothing, my lady." The attendant shrugged. "Best to toss it in the trash heap."

"Wait, let me see it," Marina had asked, drawn instantly to the old tome.

"As my lady wishes."

He handed over the book, and continued clearing out the room.

Marina had carried the book with her throughout the day, but had not had a chance to examine it closely. Now in the middle of the night, with sleep seeming impossible, she had sought solace in the nursery. With the book that had been silently calling her name, she turned on a gas lantern, and took a seat in a comfortable chair. Opening the cover, she examined the handwritten pages and gasped.


	2. Chapter 1: The Story Teller

The nightmare is starting all over. They're taking him away again. Panic, fear, anxiety, dread course through my body as I struggle to sit up. Everything is swimming around me, making my head spin and my stomach lurch. It's so damn hot in here, and my body is weak and numb. I try to follow after him, to stop these strange looking guards from separating us again, but a strong hand pushes me back down into a narrow bed.

"Cloud..." I barely manage to whisper, and shut my eyes to block out the scene.

"Relax. Nothing is going to happen to either of you... Yet." An unfamiliar man's voice.

"Who are you?" I ask sullenly, turning to the wall. Fighting would be useless, I'm out of strength anyways, and struggling might endanger Cloud even more.

"More like who are you?" The voice asks.

"You know who we are, you sick bastard. You can tell Hojo that when you see him, I'll do my best to die. That's right, you and the ShinRa can just go to hell. I won't let you do this anymore!"

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are, I don't know who this Hojo is and you can be assured that I've never heard of ShinRa. I don't really feel comfortable taking prisoners who have done nothing, but with the tragedies our world has experienced, I had no other option. You show up wearing strange clothing, carrying strange weapons, with glowing eyes, and these strange orbs. And one of you is wearing a dress! What am I supposed to think?"

Reluctantly, I open my eyes, and roll over. Before me is standing a very handsome young man, but we're not the ones wearing strange clothes, he is! He's dressed like something out of a stage show or some crap. I have finally gone over the edge. I am cracking up and going crazy. For all I know I am sitting in that cave, slowly going mad and this is all some kind of dream, or terrible vision. But I am defiantly not the strange looking one.

"Us? Dressed in funny clothes? Don't make me laugh, you're the one whose dressed like some kind of god damned dandy. And our eyes glow because of mako infusions, everybody knows that, its the mark of SOLDIER. Do you mean our materia? Are you stupid, how can you not know that? I want to know what in the hell is going on here, right now. And what did you do with Cloud, I need to see him."

"Cloud? Is that your friend's name? He's been taken to the infirmary. My lady wife and highest general are attending to him personally. They are both very accomplished healers, and fine looking women as well. I almost feel envious of the poor lad."

I must have hit my head very, very hard because I could have sworn he said something about a lady SOLDIER. I've known some tough ladies, and Turks as well. But SOLDIER is the biggest all boys club on the planet. Since when did they start recruiting girls?

"This doesn't make any sense." I shake my head.

"Why don't you tell me your name?" asks the handsome young man. "And tell me your story. From the beginning. If I like your answers, I'll take you to see Cloud, and I'll answer anything you want to know. If not, than you can sit in the dungeon for a while longer. Fair enough?"

I consider his request. I cannot believe we escaped to this. I thought that we had lost the ShinRa, that we would be safe out here in the wild mountains, until I could think of some other solution. Get him well again, well enough to travel swiftly. I thought I had time, because certainly they would be looking in the other direction, towards Midgar, towards civilization, food and medical supplies. Could this be an elaborate trick of Hojo's to make us believe we escaped, only to be recaptured. No, this young man seems genuinely confused, as much as I am. Maybe cooperating is our only chance. Either way I'm willing to take it.

"Zack Fair. SOLDIER, First Class, and the kid is Cloud Strife, infantry."

"Alright, Zack. Now we're getting somewhere. Now tell me how you guys got here. Spare me no details." He says, sitting on the edge of the bed.

I sigh, and start from the beginning, as best as I know.

"We, uh, Sephiroth, Cloud and I were dispatched to a mission to Nibelheim-"

"Who is Sephiroth? Where is Nibelheim?" He interrupts me.

"You don't know? Everyone knows who the great Sephiroth is. Only he's not so great anymore, now is he?" I shake my head sadly.

"Humor me." He says.

"Sephiroth was the greatest SOLDIER to ever live, until he went completely insane and destroyed the entire town of Nibelheim, Cloud's home town. It was over Jenova, or his mother, or some damn thing about him being 'created'. I don't know, it made no sense. We went into that reactor, and he came out, completely different. But I didn't pay enough attention, I could have done something sooner, stopped him before the entire town went up in flames. I was preoccupied though... I didn't notice it, thought it would go away, maybe he would snap out of it, I don't know."

"Preoccupied? With what?"

"It's nothing now. Personal stuff." I shake my head. So stupid.

"Ah. So after the reactor..."

"Right. Like I said, I was preoccupied with personal stuff, not watching him closely enough. He locked himself in that basement, with all those books. I tried talking to him, but he wanted to be left alone. For three days, he stayed down in that basement. I tried again to go talk some sense into him, and that's when he started babbling all that nonsense. He pushed me aside, into a bookshelf, and knocked the wind out of me. By the time I got upstairs, the whole town was burning. No, it's too terrible, you have no idea..."

"Sephiroth?"

"Yeah. Torched the entire town, murdered everyone who got in his way, headed for the mako reactor-"

"Mako?"

"Energy! A monopoly owned by those ShinRa bastards! Look do you want me to tell you what happened or not? You keep interrupting me!"

"Sorry, I'll just sit here and listen."

And so, I plunge back into that nightmare, telling the story of what happened after the fire.


	3. Chapter 2: The Nibelheim Fire

Like I said, by the time I reached the town again, it was in flames. Sephiroth was standing there, completely emotionless in the center of all of it. Townsfolk, bleeding and dying in the town center. Coughing lungfuls of thick black smoke, trapped inside their burning houses. Children crying, parents screaming. It's one of the most evil things I've ever seen, and it sent a chill through my entire body. Then he just turned and walked away, towards the mako reactor. The entire town was lit up against the cold night sky.

Zangan, a martial artist was pulling people from the flames, sweat pouring from his brow, face covered in soot.

"Hey, it's you! You're still sane, right? Then come over here and help me!" he grunted at me. "You check this house, I'll check that one."

I nodded, and dashed over to the house that Zangan had gestured at. As I drew closer, I saw Cloud laying on the ground just a few feet from the flames.. I rushed over, and knelt beside him.

"Cloud? Cloud! Cloud wake up!" I shouted.

Shaking, I lifted him up and carried him away from the flames. I knelt on the ground, cradling his upper body in my arms, and shoved his messed up hair out of his face. He was still breathing, but not responding to me.

"Come on buddy, wake up, you've got to help me!"

I never noticed how small he was, like an infantryman, only miniature. I didn't think he'd ever make SOLDIER, not with those tiny, fine bones and delicate hands. He needed someone to protect him, to keep him safe from things like this. Why did I tell him that it was a good idea to try out for SOLDIER again. If we lived through this, I was going to try to talk him out of it. Maybe even quit myself. All this flashed through my mind as I watched his eyelashes flutter against his cheekbones. Slowly, his eyes opened.

"Mom? Tifa? Zack? Zack, where's my mom? I was trying to get her out, but the fire, there was so much smoke, I was choking. I couldn't see, I tried to go back to get a breath of air-"

That's when he saw his mother's house collapse in on it's self. The roof came down first, then one of the walls. The whole thing crumbled in minutes. Cloud sobbed as he clutched the front of my uniform, unable to look mashed his face into my shoulder. I put my arms around him and buried my fingers into his hair and held him, just rocking back and forth while his heartbroken keening filled my ears.

"Tifa!" He cried, She's probably gone too... I tried Zack, I really tried, but I let her down. I couldn't save her. Just like the last time. Mom's dead too, I've let everyone down, I don't deserve to live anymore, why am I still alive!"

I shake him, gently at first, then harder.

"Cloud, if you had tried to stop Sephiroth, you would be dead. He would have cut through you just like everyone else that tried to stop him. I need you to pull yourself together, so that you can help me stop him. That's why you're alive, OK?"

Tifa was a local Nibelheim girl and a childhood friend of Cloud's, hired to guide us up the mountain to the reactor the first time we went up there. Cloud told me that he had always wanted to ask her on a date but never did, and that when they were kids she fell from a broken rope bridge on Mt. Nibel. He was with her that day, and he was blamed for letting her get hurt. That's where his hero complex comes from.

"Sephiroth... This is too terrible," I mutter, still holding Cloud.

While I was waiting for him to collect himself enough so that we could go stop Sephiroth, Tifa came running out into the middle of the town. When she saw the devastation her eyes went wild, and her whole body shook.

"Tifa-" Cloud started, but she didn't hear him.

"Who did this? Who did this to our town?" she screamed at Zangan.

"Tifa, get yourself out of here now!" Zangan called. "It's Sephiroth, he's gone mad, burned the whole thing. He's headed for the reactor, quickly, run away child-"

Then she took off running. Toward the reactor. She was silent as she flew by us, through the flames, past the ShinRa manor, and up the dark and twisted mountain path. Cloud scrambled to his feet quickly,.

"Zack, We've got to stop her!" he cried, pulling his helmet on.

We followed after Tifa, but she was faster than us, more sure footed and knew the path well, even in the blackness. On the way up, I overtook Cloud. There was nothing but silence and the sound of the night air rushing past my face. Somehow I made it back to the reactor in time to see Tifa kneeling beside the body of her father. A sword he must have been carrying lay on the ground, a few feet from his hand.

"Papa... Sephiroth?! Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he?" She murmured. "Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako reactors... ShinRa... Everything! I hate them all!" She stood up and grabbed the sword. Her hair was wild, and she was possessed by an inhuman fury as she charged into the next room.

Through the doorway, the reactor pulsed with an eerie light. At the top of a short flight of stairs, Sephiroth was standing in front of the door to the innermost chamber, pulling at the handle.

"Mother, I'm here to see you. Please, open this door," he pleaded, very softly, almost inaudible.

"How could you do that to Papa and all the townspeople?!" Tifa's voice rang like a bell, cutting through the eerie silence.

He didn't even turn around, not until she reached the top of the stairs, when he swiftly pivoted, pulled the sword from her hands and struck her across the chest. She fell backwards, and landed on the hard ground.

I hesitated for a moment, glancing down at Tifa, but continued up after Sephiroth.

In the innermost chamber of the reactor, he was just standing there in front of this... creature. That's the best way I can think to describe the abomination in that glass tube. Missing an arm, humanoid, but not a human, not by any stretch. Wires, running through the floor, into it, out of it, sickening and haunting.

It was then that he started babbling, insane nonsense about the planet belonging to him, and him being the chosen one, and that whatever it was in the glass tube being his mother.

He said that we were getting in his way, and I turned my sword on him. I held out pretty well, but he cut me down, he was the greatest SOLDIER in history. He tossed me down the stairs, like a rag doll. And then... I don't know. I lost a lot of blood. I was fading in and out really bad. I saw Cloud kneeling beside Tifa. He gently moved her aside, grabbed my sword and headed straight for Sephiroth. I thought we three were all goners. But, Cloud, that kid... He managed to take down Sephiroth, and I'll never know how he did it. Threw that lunatic straight down into the mako reactor.

I remember looking at Cloud, laying there on the floor and smiling as best I could.

"You did a really good job, kid..."

"Thanks..." He whispered.


	4. Chapter 3: Things in the Dark

Author's Note: A long time ago there was a beautiful Princess who had lost her kingdom, and was forced to toil away at a hair salon to make ends meet. One day, the hair salon at the other end of the kingdom flooded, and the princess had to work many long hours cutting the hair of the peasants. Then, she met a girl named Alethearia, and agreed to design a web page for her, in exchange for any favor. So she didn't have any time for writing, except for late at night by candle light.

It's at this point, I stop, because a guard has approached the cell door.

"Sire, you are needed immediately. It's your brother." The handsome young gentleman is completely spellbound.

"Sire, your brother." The guard is very insistent.

"Oh, yes, my brother..." He murmurs.

I can tell he's pondering my story. His brow is furrowed, deep in concentration.

"Wait here, I'll back. You probably need a break anyways. I'll see that dinner is sent down to you."

"Well it's not like I can go anywhere," I sigh. "But thanks."

He leaves with the guard, and it's quiet for the first time in what seems like ages. I take this time to have a look around. The cell is obviously below ground, but it's not damp, so I must be somewhere with a dry climate. It's not horrible either, besides being somewhat dark, it's clean, and the narrow bed isn't too uncomfortable either. I hope wherever Cloud is that he's alright.

My throat is dry from all the talking, and I try desperately to swallow the lump that is stuck there, but it won't go away. I try to get a handle on all the things that are racing in my mind.

The things you think of when you're alone in the dark... It's like oh well I could have, or I should have done something different. But I didn't. You get down on yourself, for a bit. Then, you think of a way to do better next time, or try harder. Sometimes you succeed, others not so well, but the effort is there and usually there's a next time. That's the way it used to be anyways. After Angeal passed, though, that's when things really got complicated. A sharp pang twists in my middle, making my chest tight at the thought of him. Cloud. That's the part of the story that I didn't tell to the mysterious stranger, because I can't tell if he is a friend or enemy yet. So for now I'll just stick to the facts. He hasn't treated me badly, and seemed genuinely apologetic about keeping me down here, and seems concerned about our well being. Defiantly not a ShinRa trait. As long as dinner isn't poisoned, I'll try my best to convince him that we mean him no harm, that I just want to see Cloud well again and go.

The strange thing is, that no matter what in the hell happened in Nibelheim, or what went wrong down in that basement, or even what's happening now, the part that bothers me the most is the part where I am a callous asshole.

I keep thinking about Cloud. Always. That's the part I was leaving out.

It was his smile, by the way. That smile that doesn't want to admit that it was happening, that barely reaches the corners of his eyes. Don't blink, or you'll miss it! Because now he is staring down at the ground, examining his shoelaces, or a pebble, or a fallen leaf.

Here is my impression of Cloud smiling: Something is amusing. Can I smile? Should I smile? I'm smiling. I'm going to look at the floor and blush. Ok, now I am going to change the topic, or walk away. Ok, bye.

I am smiling, just thinking about his smile. It's absurd, but what part of this strange journey has made any sense? There's pretty much nothing that I wouldn't to for him. That's the part where things get complicated. I left a girl in Midgar behind and probably heartbroken because of him, and that's the crappy part. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be here. No, I'm not blaming him for this, but if he weren't in the picture I would have acted differently, done different things. Because liking someone and being completely insane head over heels in love are two completely different things. Liking someone is a causal date, is, an inexpensive hair ribbon, a smile over an ice cream sundae, a shoulder to lean on, a friendly face, career advice.

Her name was Aerith, by the way. The girl I left in Midgar. A nice girl, who couldn't do anything wrong to anyone if she tried. She's the type that would be wounded, and think that she had done something. I liked her, I really, really liked her. And that was the problem.

I was stupid and didn't know the difference, until it was staring me dead in the face with pokey blonde hair, blue eyes, and the sweetest smile in the whole entire world. On a mission, one day, a long time ago, we were trudging through the snow. Me, Tseung and a couple of recruits. One of the recruits and I and had out paced Tseng and the others by a considerable distance.

"Well at least someone is keeping up," I had joked.

"Well, I'm a country boy too," He replied.

"Oh really. From where?" I was interested immediately.

"Nibelheim. How about you?"

I laughed, and told him that I was from Gongaga myself, and then, he smiled, and that was it. The end, game over.

He smiled. He smiled. He smiled, at ME! He lifted up his delicate little face, almost like he was afraid, and the corners of his mouth lifted, and oh, wow. Like lightning, that fast, everything changed. That shy, sweet smile, with snowflakes falling into his hair and landing on his eyelashes. It was like something out of a movie, or I dunno, a play. Suddenly, all that crap that Genesis recited all of the time, from Loveless... It made sense!

But here we were out in the middle of nowhere land, and me with a girlfriend back home, that I'd only ever kissed or held her hand, like she was something delicate, like the flowers she sold, and I don't know how to work these things so I try to play it cool, use all my smooth moves. And yeah, I lay it on thick. Maybe I use bad cliches. Maybe I thought, Oh well I don't really feel any chemistry for this sweet pretty girl from the slums, but that's how it is on TV, the cool guy with all the moves falls for the good girl and they have a family or something? Is that how it goes?

I don't really think anyone really means to suddenly fall out of love with their girlfriend. It's not like I woke up out of bed one day, thought to myself "Should I have two scoops of sugar with my coffee, or one? These boots or those, and should I break someone's heart or not?"

Ok, I'm sure that occurs to some people. But I wasn't like that, or never thought I would be that guy, you know, and now I was that guy. Which is where all of my bad decision making began, and landed us in the hot mess that we're in right now.

Wait, it gets even better. Cloud had no idea, and still doesn't about how I feel! Yes. All of this insanity, for someone who may or may not feel the same way back. That's right, I said I was crazy in love. An idiot really. That's how you know what love is. You see being a hero is dragging someone from a burning building, or say, a mansion basement. Love is dragging that someone's unconscious ass across an entire continent! Love is talking to them through the entire journey, keeping them warm at night, covering them with your own coat. Love is imagining a life for the two of you together, and planning it all out. Oh, yeah, I had plans for us. All of that would come later though.

At first, after that glance, I tried to play it off. Like I hadn't just fallen completely in love with the damn kid. I tried my best to act like we were just friends. I just wanted to be closer to him. I spent every moment available talking to him, hanging out giving him encouragement and advice on how to get into SOLDIER you know, friend stuff.

But whether or not I wanted to admit it at the time, I was watching and waiting. I wanted something to happen. I'm not sure what, or how far it would go, because it never got to that point. Every time I could coax that flicker of a smile from his lips, or a laugh it was the best. It was really stupid, really. Kid's school type of shit. I wanted him to kiss me, or at least not have a problem with me kissing him. Stupid kid school shit. Totally dumb when it came to relating to others, though. I don't think he would have picked up on someone liking him, I think he would have needed to be told under no uncertain terms what was going on. Something like:

"Hey Cloud, I like you and I think you're cute. Want to go out with me?" That kind of thing.

So I always felt safe, knowing that he would never make the first move, and I could spend time with him, and not be betraying anyone. It was a sneaky way to get around those unspoken rules of dating, and not break any promises.

I said earlier that I had been an asshole. And yes, I was and I know it.

So there. That's it. That's where my bad decision making process. I don't know what came over me, and now I'm ashamed at the way I acted so selfishly. We're in this mess right now, because I brought him here, through the mountains and to this place, because I lied to myself, aerith and Cloud, and that's a heavy weight to drag around with you.

I should at least try to get some sleep, and when the stranger returns, maybe I'll know more. Maybe there's some way to make up for all the bad decisions I have made. I was trying to walk the fine line between saving someone's feelings and acting out of self interest. On the battle field, ther's right and wrong, and it's easy to have honor and do the right thing. In your personal life, and with your heart, it's a much more murky and complicated to try and find the right path.

Do I regret saving Cloud? No, not at all. Do I wish that I had done things differently, broken it off with Aerith as soon as I realized that I had feelings for someone else? Yes, more than anyone will ever know. Also while we're at it, I should have broken it off with er, and taken the risk of telling Cloud how I felt, even in the face of possible rejection. I acted like a coward, really, and there's no excusing that.

I feel like I have let down Angel, and I'm pretty sure that he would be disappointed in me right now. Hey, mentor, your protegee has messed up. I really wish you were here to steer me in the right direction, buddy. I'm pretty lost right now.

The only thing I can do is wait, and it this point, it seems like a good idea to lay down and sleep. I've pretty much thought everything I can about this, and the first step towards making things right is to get out of this place, and start making up for all the bad I've caused, and my own selfishness.

There's nothing left to do now, but sleep, and wait.


	5. Chapter 4: The Shifting Room

_This chapter was fun to write, like a strange acid trip. Not that Violet would know anything about that... But if one were to do such a thing, viewing Snow White and the Huntsman is highly recommended, so many sparkles! Um anyways, let me know what you think!  
_

I know it's a dream because the reality is the cold and lonely dungeon of some strange place, and in the dream of the desert, the colors are faded and everything is hazy and moving like syrup, and I have no control of my actions.

It's a strange dream, we are going South through the desert near Corel, in the back of a truck. The sun is shining and the wind is in my face. Cloud is slumped over kitty corner from me in the truck bed. I feel excited, and nervous, so I move around a bit. The old man who had agreed to transport us, with reluctance, is having none of my conversation with him.

"Yo, Old Guy, we at Midgar yet?" Even though I know we aren't. It's something to say. I like being able to speak and move freely. All that time, enclosed in the basement, I'm starting to wonder if it's taken a toll on me.

"Shaddup. You're lucky I even gave you a ride."

That went over well. I shake my head, and move to crouch near Cloud.

This whole time I have been keeping up a steady dialogue with him. I gave up waiting for him to respond. So I make up things to tell him. Plans for the future.

"What are you going to do once we get to Midgar?" I ask. "I know what I'm gonna do. I got a place where we can crash for a while... No, wait, the mother lives there too."

Is it right to stay somewhere if you are going to break up with someone? Or in times of dire need is it acceptable? No, I will just have to stop by, apologize to Aerith in person, and tell her what has happened. That her life is in danger if I continue to see her. She won't understand, and she'll be stubborn, and say it doesn't matter. It's not just her life, and her well being, it's her mother. ShinRa would stop at nothing pretty much, so I can't let her put her mother in any more danger. She'll understand that. And the part about Cloud, well I'll just leave that out.

Yeah, it's a plan. A stupid plan, poorly thought out, and not very considerate, but I'm running out of options here, and it's at least honorable to tell her in person, and get her to understand what kind of trouble being associated with ShinRa rains down on your life.

"Guess that's out..." I sigh. "Yup, gotta change my plans. No matter what I do, I need some money first. "Hey! Want to start a business... But what could we do? Think there's anything I'd be good at?"

Cloud is silent.

"Hey Old Guy! What do you think I would be good at?" I really need some input here.

"What're you yappin' about? You're still young, ain't ya? Young folks should try everything! You gotta pay your dues while you're young. Go out and look for what you really want."

Ok. Sound advice. What I really want is sitting in the corner of the truck bed opposite from me. Now, how we get from here to there. Still need money. Yeah, enough money so that Cloud can do whatever he wants, because honestly, the kid isn't cut out for the whole SOLDIER bit. I could make enough money so that we could be together all of the time and he could feel needed.

"Try everything, that's easy for him to say..." I think for a bit. Then it flashes to me. "Of course! I've got a lot of brains and skill that other guys don't have. That settles it. I'm gonna become a mercenary."

It would be a slow start at first, but after a while, I could take only jobs that I felt like, giving us a lot of time to be together, and maybe he would start falling for me too.

"Hey, thanks Pops," I say to the old guy driving.

"Hey... You didn't even hear a word I said." He responds.

But I did hear, and I was excited. Try everything. Spend time with Cloud.

"I'm gonna be a mercenary, and that's that." I announce with finality. "Boring stuff, dangerous stuff, anything for money. I'm gonna be rich! So, what're you gonna do?"

But Cloud is still unresponsive, not handling the mako well. Even if he doesn't love me back, I still think we're friends, so I ask.

"We're friends right? Mercenaries... Mmmmmm. That's what you an' me are gonna be."

He is still just sitting there, so I lean closer.

"Hey, Cloud, when I save up enough money, would you like to move back to the country? Buy a chocobo farm? I will buy one, just for you." I whisper.

I could just see Cloud out feeding and watering the chocobos in my head. An idyllic scene, just two country boys out in the mountains with a chocobo farm and lots of time to kill, and far from the ShinRa. Perfect!

After I turned my head from side to make sure the old guy can't hear, I whisper very softly:

"After I take care of Aerith, make sure she's alright and end it gently... Let's you and I get a place together. We could get a loft on the plate, or become chocobo farmers, I dunno, anything as long as it's you and me together. If you think that's a bad idea, tell me now."

He is silent. I take this as a good sign.

Suddenly the sky becomes the ground, and the air thick, and everything shifts downwards and to the left. That's the only way I can describe it. Space, time, the truck, and everything. Just shifted. Down and to the left. And suddenly, I'm not watching myself anymore, and I'm in a room, watching a young girl. She is slight of build, with wavy blonde hair falling down her back, sitting on a cushion before a fire. Her back is to me and she is working, it looks like, but I can't move. While she works, though, I can hear the tinkling of tiny bells. I imagine that the bells I am hearing are silver, and it's a happy sound.

"You were dreaming..." She murmurs.

"You knew?" I'm not surprised, just curious. Things have very quickly stopped surprising me.

"Mmm, yeah. I saw it, in front of me."

"In front of you?"

"In the drawing room. Just a little bit, now. You're not all here yet."

She isn't making any sense, like anything else here.

"Do you know what I was dreaming?"

A laugh, sparkly, feminine, and young, but a tiny bit throaty.

"Yeah, you were dreaming of what could have been. Driving through the desert, under an ultramarine sky, with dust particles in the air. You were thirsty, and tired, but happy, just being together. You were making secret plans for the two of you. The truck is... incredible! A little rusty, but, amazing! And your friend, he is dreaming too."

"Cloud, is he ok?"

"He is poisoned, and his body is fighting it. It's very hard, and he is very tired. The nightmares, are troubling him, and he can't rest properly. I was just checking on you. I'm going to go watch over him, now and paint him a better dream. What does he like?"

"He likes... Chocobos?" I answer. Does he actually like chocobos, or is that something I made up. The shifting makes it hard to tell what actually happened, what is dream, and what is real.

"Ok then, I will make him a better dream. Oh, Zack, where are you? I was hoping you were dreaming about where you were right now."

"I don't know. I'm in a dungeon... somewhere. I'm sorry, I don't know. If you could find me-"

And then the scene shifts away, and the room becomes sand flowing downwards, and away. She's trickling away, and I can't even see her face. Everything becomes granulated, all of the colours, and none of them all at once.

"Bye! See you soon, I hope!" She calls, ebbing and flowing with the shifting room.

"Wait, I don't even know your name! How do you know who I am?"

But she is gone, and reality tilts sharply upwards, as I jerk awake and find myself in the strange underground prison again.

The dream that could never happen, now. Somewhere out in the desert. The girl by the fireplace, who somehow was more real than the dream.

Sometimes, I think, that when I had the whole entire world in my palm, the future in my grasp, and the past just a grey wind at my back, I should have stopped there.

Whatever, live for the moment, and try to have as few regrets as possible, right?

I regret nothing about saving him.

Now, maybe sleep that doesn't involve reality bending inwards on it's self. Maybe.


	6. Chapter 5: A Sleepless Night

_Note: A short one today... Mostly because I called in sick to work so I could stay home and buy Burning Man tickets, and get this piece polished up, and also finish the next one. Next chapter will be so much longer, and it's also where I start making up whatever I want about the Nibelheim incident, because and I quote: "I reject your reality and substitute my own." Should be post-worthy by tues ._

Morning creeps up slowly, and the deep and strange sleep of the night flows away gradually like the tide on a beach. I lay there still, trying to grasp what has faded away and remember any details of the dream that wasn't exactly a dream. There is light creeping up the back of my eyelids, a world colored crimson and orange. It must be daylight. Just a few more minutes, forget this bewildering new reality. Maybe everything that happened is a dream too. If I open my eyelids, what would I see? Would I see an inn nestled in the mountains? Maybe the SOLDIER barracks? Shattered glass on a cold stone floor? A disused bedroom in shambles, a pile of leaves on the floor of a forgotten cave?

Slowly I open my eyes and see the brick and mortar ceiling of a tiny jail cell. Nope. Not a dream.

The truth must lay outside these walls, I decide, rolling over onto my side.

I am surprised to see the handsome young gentleman with the aristocratic manners is slumped in a chair in the corner. He looks as though he has had a bad night of sleep as well. There are shadows beneath his eyes, and his hair is coming undone, and his rich clothes look slept in and wrinkled. He sits there, with the side of his face resting lightly against a palm upturned.

"You didn't eat your dinner," he says.

"Didn't even notice it was there. To tell ya the truth, I've had a lot on my mind. By the way, this isn't creepy at all, that you're sitting here."

"You were resting, and I need some quiet. Peace and quiet without my brother and the girl worrying at me, at all hours of the night. I haven't the slightest idea who she was speaking of- If I send for something fresh, would you care to eat this time?"

"Sure."

"Fine, we can take coffee together, since I haven't eaten either. You there, guard bring us some coffee and whatever else is laying around the kitchen."

"If it pleases you, sir." The guard who the man beckoned for sets off down the torchlit hallway.

"You have a bad night too?" I ask amiably.

"Yes, you have no idea. Long and stranger than most. And I could tell you a story too. But first let's finish yours, shall we? It's an interesting start, but what I don't get is how you ended up in the desert, with one of you wearing a dress. Can you clarify that to me today?"

In spite of it all, I chuckle. I could find myself being friends with this gentleman.

"This us where it gets tricky. Yeah, the dress I can explain. The desert... No we were supposed to be in the mountains."

"So you weren't supposed to be meeting anyone in the desert?"

"Meeting someone? No, in fact we, I mean, I was trying to avoid everyone. You know since Cloud didn't really have a say in it all."

"Do you know what causes his strange illness?"

"Mako. In too high of a dose it becomes extermely toxic. It has the potential for addiction, and cause severe problems for someone who is not read or eqipped to handle it's side effects. It wasn't supposed to be like this, though. Cloud, he wasn't ready. Not for SOLDIER. Not for any of it."

The gentleman inclines his head, and stares directly at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, I didn't have an heroic delusions about fighting them, the ones that did this to us. I just wanted to get away. It's stupid and selfish and... cowardly. But you know what? They destroy everything, every single they get their hands on. I wanted to save him, at least and not become a... monster."

"So, you were protecting him, then? Sounds noble to me."

"Yeah. Well, while I'm telling you all of this, is there any chance of you telling me who you are, or where I am?"

Coffee and cakes arrive on a tray, and the young gentleman pours two cups, and hands one to me. I have to admit, it smells pretty good. Quick service. If this is a jail, I'd like to see what the rest of this place is like. He pours two cups of coffee and hands one to me. Despite my feelings of hostility, it is delicious and warm.

"I'll let you know who I am after I figure out who you are, Zack Fair with the glowing eyes. I gave you my word that no harm would come to you or your friend, and I take my word very seriously. Now let's continue where you left off before."


End file.
